ASTRO: Stereotactic Ablative RT OK for RCC in Solitary Kidneys

FRIDAY, Oct. 26, 2018 (HealthDay News) — For patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) seems to be as safe and effective for patients with a solitary kidney as for those with bilateral kidneys, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology, held Oct. 21 to 24 in San Antonio, Texas.

Rohann J.M. Correa, M.D., Ph.D., from the London Health Sciences Centre in Ontario, Canada, and colleagues compared demographics and treatment outcomes for 223 patients with RCC in solitary kidneys (81 patients) and bilateral kidneys using pooled data from nine institutions.

The researchers found that solitary kidney patients had a higher mean estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at baseline than those with bilateral kidneys (64.6±21.7 mL/min versus 57.2±21.6 mL/min). A similar post-SABR decline in eGFR was seen for solitary and bilateral cohorts, with mean decreases of −5.8 (±10.8) and −5.3 (±14.3 mL/min), respectively. Dialysis was not required for any of the patients in the solitary cohort versus 4.2 percent of patients in the bilateral cohort. Local control and cancer-specific survival were similar for patients with solitary and bilateral kidneys (98 versus 97.8 percent and 98 versus 94.3 percent, respectively). Overall survival was also similar between the cohorts (81 versus 82 percent, respectively).

“We were somewhat surprised that SABR could achieve such a high local control rate without more significantly impacting renal function in the solitary kidney setting,” Correa said in a statement.